NZXT Kraken X31 Review

With the Kraken X31, NZXT has an all-in-one watercooler in its portfolio, that comes with the a rather slim radiator and one 120 millimeter fan in the delivery. At a first look the design is looking good while you get a black radiator and a fan with white rotor. Overall we're now rather curious to find out what this cooler can do in terms of cooling and noise levels.﻿

Today we have the pleasure to check out NZXT's Kraken X31 compact liquid
cooling system, which, according to NZXT, should be compatible even with
small cases and tighter spaces thanks to its 150mm tall and 30mm thick 120mm
radiator. This particular 120mm radiator is slightly thicker than
other 120mm models, since they usually measure 27mm. This should make for
slightly increased performance. Apart from that there while kink-resistant tube,
which allow for routing even in very small cases. Overall this cooler is
well made and with its black and white color scheme it's easy to integrate into
the design scheme of lots of builds. The bundle includes one 120mm PWM fan with
white wings and black frame. The mounting system supports most, if not all, recent Intel and AMD socket CPUs.

If you wonder which company is actually the OEM behind this cooler, then we can
tell you that this is a typical closed-loop cooler from Asetek.

As you can see from the picture manufacturing quality of the Kraken X31 is
on the level it should be. It's not exceptional but still on decent level for a
70 Euro all-in-one cooler. The radiator itself has been made from aluminium and
there are the usual flat pipes, which increase surface area. The cooling block
features a copper base-plate
with pre-applied thermal compound. To be a bit more precise the dimensions of the
Kraken X31 are 120mm x 30mm x 155mm (WxHxD). According to the specifications
NZXT equipped the Kraken X31 with one high RPM fan, that should rotate with up
to 3600 RPM. In the case of the sample we received we measured a maximum fan
speed of almost 2000 RPM, which is quite a bit less. But honestly, we're not
unhappy to find a slower rotating fan in the delivery, since otherwise this
cooler would be very noisy.

The packaging is quite standard for an all-in-one water cooling system.
Alongside the AIO unit you receive one fan, a manual and mounting kits. NZXT bundles
the Kraken X31 with two mounting kits, one for AMD and one for Intel-based
systems, as well as a backplate is used for Intel
sockets. NZXT Kraken X31 is not compatible only with the old Intel
socket LGA775. If anything should break down with the Kraken X31 AIO water cooler
you get a warranty that covers such event for a whopping six
years.